Golf club indicator and straightening machine



April 1969 R. D. SUNDSTROM 3,439,429

GOLF CLUB INDICATOR'AND STRAIGHTENING MACHINE Original Filed June 29,1965 Sheet of 2 "Nam-0R nu. D. .5 ulvos neon av Mia, WWW

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INUENTaR EQUL D $u-asrom av new wkm United States Patent Int. Cl. G01b/00 U.S. Cl. 33-174 22 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hydraulicclamping device secures the head of a golf club against a referenceplane engaging the striking face of the club head, two reference pointsengaging the sole of the club and one reference point engaging the hoselof the club at a point closely adjacent to the sole to leave the hoselfree for corrective bending. A bracket extending upwardly from the clampcarries a fixed scale and a relatively movable indicator carrying asecond scale angularly related to the first. The path of movement of theindicator and second scale are such as to carry the second scale intocontact with the club shaft, the point of engagement indicating areading on the second scale, and the indicator indicating a reading onthe first scale.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 468,027,filed June 29, 1965, now abandoned.

The invention consists of novel golf club positioning means including aclamp operated by a jack, and accurately related positioning pointsincluding a face complementary to the golf club striking face, twopoints below the head of the club, and one point engageable with thehosel of the club. This combination locates the club very precisely whenthe clamp is closed.

The invention also consists of a pair of scales so located andconstructed that a single simple operation produces accurate readings ofthe angle between the shaft and the head of the club in two planes; thelie and the loft of the club.

The invention further consists in the construction of a machine which isboth sensitive and strong, and in which the loft scale is free to swing,so that a club may be adjusted while mounted in my device, withoutdamage to either the club or the instrument.

In this application, the portion of a golf club intended to contact aball is generally referred to as the face, or striking face. The outerend of the head is the toe, and the inner end is the heel. The handle issometimes called a shaft, and the hosel joins the shaft to the head atthe heel. The protrusion at the rear of the head is the flange, and thebottom of the head is sometimes called the sole. Loft is the anglebetween the striking face and the shaft in a vertical plane which passesthrough the ball and includes its ideal flight path. The rearwardinclination of the striking face, taking a vertical face as 0, controlsthe height of the flight path. Lie is the angle between the sole and theshaft, in a vertical plane through the sole. The lie of a club controlsthe shape of the triangle between the golfers hands, his feet, and theclub head, at the moment of impact with the sole parallel to the groundand at right angles to the flight path of the ball.

The lie and loft ideally are kept at values specified by the maker. Theymay be adjusted by a golf professional in specific cases to compensatefor the physique of a particular golfer, or to compensate for a style ofswing which leads to consistent errors in the flight path of the ball.(The latter correction is considered less desirable than a correction ofthe players style, but is necessary at times.)

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Since the shaft does not lie in either plane in which lie and loft aremeasured, but is at a resultant angle made up of both, the anglemeasured is the projection of the shaft in the plane of measurement. Theadjustment of either lie or loft has an effect on the other. My deviceis the only device known to me which is capable of measuring bothsimultaneously in a simple way, at the same time holding the clubrigidly enough for correction, and having scales so located and mountedthat they not only do not interfere with the bending of the hosel, butguide and measure it.

It is important that clubs be kept within manufacturers specifications,or within corrected specifications established by a pro, in order toplay a consistent game. New clubs frequently do not meet eitherstandard. Used clubs may suffer sudden or progressive changes. Mymachine is simple and relatively inexpensive, and can be operatedquickly right at the course by the golf professional, who thus maygreatly improve his services to golfers.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of my device showing a golf clubmounted therein.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the handle of the jack removed andthe bending tool in working position.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the scales on the upper portion of my device.

FIG. 5 is a view on line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a view on line 66 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view on lie 7-7 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the lower portion of my device showingthe details of the jack.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view on line 9-9 of FIG. 10.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view on line 1010 of FIG. 9.

As shown in the drawings, my device is designed to measure the loft andlie of a golf club, for instance club 30, and to hold it and provideguide means for correcting its geometry. The club comprises a head 29having a rear surface 28, a striking face 33, and a sole 34. Hosel 32attaches shaft or handle 31 to head 29.

My device is provided with a base :20 upon which is mounted a hydraulicjack 21, and a bell crank 22 pivoted to the base at 23 and carrying apivot 24 which extends through the ends 25 of shoe 26. The shoe 26 isprovided with a curved face 27 which engages the rear surface 28 of thehead 29 of golf club 30. The jack 21 is operated by means of handle 50to raise cam head 51 which is slotted at 52 to provide a curved camsurface 53 which contacts curved edge 54 of hell crank 22 to rotate thebell crank counter-clockwise (as seen in FIG. 10) about pivot 23. Thusshoe 26 is driven to the left and downwardly with respect to club head29 as seen in FIG. 10, and face 27 comes into firm engagement with theflanged rear surface 28 of club head 29.

As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, all of these parts are desirably tiltedwith respect to the horizontal plane, in order to allow shaft 31 of thegolf club 30 to assume a more vertical position and to make the entiredevice more compact and better balanced. In addition, this providesgravity bias for the free-swinging loft scale, which is convenientthough not essential.

The base 20 is further provided with an abutment 40 having a face 41against which face 33 of the head 29 of the golf club 39 is clampedwhile my device is in use. This face provides an accurate positioningplate to serve as one reference against which to measure and adjust theangular relationship existing between the Shaft 31 and striking face 33of golf club 30.

Two additional positioning points are provided by screws 42, whose heads43 establish a base line parallel to face 41, and to the "base of jack21, and substantially at right angles to the plane of bell crank 22. Thesole 34- of club head 29 rests upon screw heads 43 while my device is inuse. The last reference point is established by hosel plate 44 which isprovided with a curved edge 45 which contacts hosel 32 of the club whenmy device is in use.

When a club 30 is placed in my device, the golf ball striking face 33 ofhead 29 is first placed against face 41 of abutment 40, so that sole 34of club head 29 rests upon screw heads 43. Then both face contact andbottom contact are maintained while the club is moved so that the edge45 of hosel plate 44 just firmly touches hosel 32 of the club.Maintaining the club in that position, the jack handle 50 is pumped todrive shoe 26 against club head 29, firmly clamping head 29 againstreference plane 41, reference points 43 and reference point 45. Thepositioning of club head 29 is thus both extremely accurate andextremely firm, suificiently firm so that the hosel 32 of the club maybe bent while the club is in my device, to correct or readjust theangular relationship between the striking face 33 and the shaft 31 ofthe club 30.

Having accurately and firmly clamped the club head in a known positionwith respect to the base, and particularly with respect to plane 41, itnow becomes possible to use the shaft 31 as a pointer to indicate thelie and the loft of the golf club 30, these being the two angularrelationships which it is desired to measure.

In order to measure the lie and the loft, base 20 is provided with anupright 60 which for convenience is desirably generally parallel to thetilted axis of movement of jack cam head 51. (See FIG. 1.) As shown inFIG. 2, upright 60 is also tilted out of the vertical plane at rightangles to bell crank 22 in order to limit the size of the are supportingthe loft scale to that necessary to carry only the useful range of loftangle indicia. At right angles to upright 60 is a sleeve 61, whichcarries a lie scale 62. Mounted telescopically in sleeve 61 is a slide63 provided with an indicator carrier 64 attached to the end of 63.Carrier 64 extends along sleeve 61. The end of the indicator carrier 64lies close to or touching sleeve 61 and is provided with a notch orother pointer 65 to indicate a reading on lie scale 62.

Slide 63 is provided at its end with a hinge 70 which swingably supportsloft indicator arc 71, which carries loft scale 72. A stop 73 isprovided for loft indicator are 71.

After the club head 29 has been clamped as described above, the shaft 31extends as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The slide 63 is pulled out ofsleeve 61 until loft indicator are 71 is out of contact with shaft 31.As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, due to the angular relationships presentin my device, loft indicator are 71 is gravity biased against stop 73.The slide 63 is then returned to the left as shown in FIG. 4 untilindicator arc 71 just barely touches shaft 31, without leaving stop 73.In that position, the point of contact between shaft 31 and scale 72indicates the loft of the club on loft scale 72. At the same time,pointer or mark 65 indicates the lie on scale 62.

The actual physical quantity which is measured by the lie scale 62 isthe distance from the hosel plate to a plane parallel to upright 60which includes the stop 73 and the edge of the indicator scale 72, thedistance being measured along sleeve 61, which is parallel to the lineestablished by screw heads 43. The distance pointer mark 65 moves alongscale 62 and bears a fixed relationship to the angle between the sole orbottom surface 34 of the club head 29 and the axis of shaft 31, becausethe height of sleeve 61 and its relationships to the reference points onthe base plate are fixed, and the plane of stop 73 and the edge ofindicator are 71 is fixed as long as the indicator arc is restingagainst the stop. This lie angle is indicated on the scale 62 indegrees, and the scale is also desirably provided with markings whichindicate which clubs conventionally have a lie corresponding to thedifferent angles. The lie scale may desirably read from approximately 55to approximately 70.

The loft scale 72 on indicator are 71 is a portion of a degree circle inwhich 0 would indicate the club face 33 is parallel to shaft 31 of club30. The center of the circle is on an axis at right angles to the planeof the degree circle and which passes through the point where the hoselplate 44 touches hosel 32. The loft scale desirably reads from about 14to about 70 and also includes markings indicating which clubsconventionally have a particular degree of loft.

For straightening the club, or adjusting it to suit a particular golfer,applicant provides a Wrench 80. The wrench has a head 81 which has aC-shaped configuration, opening to the side to receive the hosel 32 ofgolf club 30. When the handle of wrench is moved either up or down,lower edge of C-shaped head 81 bears upon the hosel 32 very close tohosel plate 44, and provides a fulcrum there. The upper margin of head81 of wrench 80 bears on the hosel of the club at a point near thecommencement of the shaft, due to the thickness f wrench head 81.Because of the great ratio between this thickness and the length of thehandle of wrench 80, great leverage is applied to bend the hosel easilywith a minimum of effort. Thus the operator has maximum control and canreadily use the lie and loft scales as a guide to accurate correctionsin the geometry of the club.

Upon completion of work upon a particular golf club 30, the jack 21 maybe released from its raised position whereupon spring 35 which isattached to base plate 20 and to hell crank 22 will retract shoe 26 fromcontact with the rear face 28 of the head 29 of golf club 30. On theparticular form of jack 21 shown in the drawings, release isaccomplished by turning valve release handle 36, releasing hydraulicpressure in the conventional ram which elevates cam head 51.

When a golf club 30 has been correctly clamped and measured as set outabove, the club may be adjusted to compensate for differences betweenthe club as measured and the manufacturers standards, or to suit theclub for use by an individual having particular needs or preferencesdifferent from the standard for the particular club. In making a liecorrection, the wrench 80 is applied to the hosel 32 so that the wrenchhandle swings in a plane parallel to the plane of 61 or the plane inwhich lie is measured. The fact that the loft indicator arc is pivotedat 70 permits it to swing aside when the hosel is bent in the directionwhich moves the shaft 31 of the club to the right as seen in FIG. 4. Inthe case of a correction in this direction, the slide 63 must then bepulled out until the indicator are again rests on stop 73 and the shaft31 just touches edge 74 of the indicator arc, at which time the lie andloft scale will again correctly indicate the lie and loft of the club ascorrected.

If a loft correction is to be made, the wrench 80 is applied to hosel 32in such a manner that the handle of the wrench swings in a planeparallel to the indicator are 71 while the arc is against stop 73. Onlyby bending the hosel in a plane parallel to one or the other of scales62 and 72 will it be possible to make an adjustment in the lie withoutaffecting the loft, or to make an adjustment in the loft withoutaffecting the lie. Any other direction of operation of the wrench willproduce a compound correction. Because of the springiness of thematerial of which club 30 is made, it is not possible simply to bend thehosel 32 until the shaft reaches the desired point on the lie or loftscale. There Will always be some spring back when the wrench isreleased, and consequently any bending that is done must go past thepoint of the desired final adjustment. The degree of spring back varieswith the make of club and the material from which the club is made, butby making the correction in increments, the correct value can beobtained very readily. So far as I am aware no other device in existencecan provide accurate repeatable measurements of the lie and loft of agolf club, regardless of the maker, and at the same time hold the clubsufficiently firmly so that corrections may be made while the clubremains in the measuring device to permit exactly controllablecorrections.

An experienced operator can also make complex corrections, such asfanning or hooding a set of clubs while the club is clamped in mydevice, by first changing the loft and the lie about the same amount inthe same direction, then resetting the scales to the original values andbending the hosel with wrench 80 in a direction at 45 to both scalesuntil the original lie and loft reading is restored. This changes therelationship of face 33 to shaft 31 in a plane at an angle to the planesin which lie and loft are measured and should not be done except whenspecifically recommended by an expert.

In the hands of a golf professional, my device greatly improves theeffectiveness of the professional golf instruction provided to clients,since the pro can be sure that the clubs used by the client are each setto the standard for that club as determined by the pro or by themanufacturer, or that the particular club is corrected as recommended bythe pro to compensate for known characteristics of the client. Shouldany club become maladjusted, it may readily be corrected.

At the same time, the angles of the various parts to the base plate 20are so chosen that they not only measure the loft and lie of the golfclub 30 accurately, but in addition the parts are so disposed as to takethe minimum of space consistent with easy readability of the scale. Iprefer that the jack 21 be tilted 25 degrees from the horizontal andthat the rest of the device be tilted correspondingly.

I claim:

1. In a golf club measuring device comprising closable and releasableclamping means for holding the head of a golf club in fixed position,and measuring means for determining the alignment of the shaft of a clubrespecting the head of the club, the improvement comprising referencemeans for guiding an operator in positioning the head of the club in apredetermined position with respect to said measuring means prior toclosing said clamping means, said reference means including an abutmentmeans for engaging at least one point on the hosel of a golf clubadjacent the head of said club.

2. In a golf club measuring device comprising closable and releasableclamping means for holding the head of a golf club in fixed position,and measuring means for determining the alignment of the shaft of a clubrespecting the head of the club, the improvement comprising referencemeans for guiding an operator in positioning the head of the club in apredetermined position with respect to said measuring means prior toclosing said clamping means, said reference means including an abutmentmeans for engaging at least one point on the hosel of a golf clubadjacent the head of said club, said reference means includingadditional reference abutments sufficient to cooperate with said firstabutment to predetermine the position of a said club head when said clubhead operatively engages all of said reference abutments.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said additional reference abutmentsinclude an abutment having a plane surface positioned for surfacecontact with the face of a said club head and two abutments positionedfor at least point contact with different parts of the sole of a saidclub head.

4. In a golf club clamping device comprising means defining a referenceplane adapted to receive the striking face of the head of :a golf clubin contact therewith, said plane having an end located to permit thehosel of a club having a face in contact with said plane to project pastthe reference plane, and means defining a pair of reference points in aline spaced slightly from one margin of said plane and adapted tocontact the sole of the head of a golf club when said golf club is inface contact with said means defining said plane, a clamping memberadapted to secure the head of a golf club rigidly with its striking faceagainst said reference plane and the sole against said means definingsaid pair of reference points, the improvement comprising means defininga third reference point, said means being spaced from but adjacent tosaid end of said reference plane and positioned to engage the hosel of agolf club in face contact with said reference plane, said clampingmember being adapted to secure the hosel against said means definingsaid third reference point, and indicator means bearing at least oneindicator scale and so positioned with respect to said reference pointsand said reference plane as to measure the alignment of the shaft withrespect to the striking face of a golf club clamped in the clampingdevice, said indicator means being so related to said means definingsaid reference plane and said means defining said reference points as tomeasure both the lie and the loft of the shaft of said club withreference to the head of a said club by a single adjustment of saidindicator means.

5. The device of claim 4 in which said indicator means comprises bothlie and loft scales.

6. The device of claim 4 in which said clamping member comprises :a shoepivoted to a bell crank and adapted to engage the rear surface of a clubhead and hold the club in contact with all of said means defining saidreference points and said reference plane.

7. A golf club measuring device comprising a lie scale, a loft scaleangularly related to said lie scale, a movable part bearing an indicatorwhich is movable along one said scale and secured to the other saidscale, clamping means which positively secure a golf club with its headin a fixed orientation determined solely by the contours of the club, apart of said clamping means comprising means to fixedly locate a contourof the shaft, said club when clamped having its shaft extending into theangle between said scales, said indicator means comprising means formoving said scale secured thereto and said part bearing said indicatorto bring said scale secured thereto into contact with the shaft of agolf club secured in the device, the movement of said part bearing saidindicator being adapted to indicate on the fixed scale the displacementof the movable scale, the point of contact between the movable scale andsaid club being an indication of a reading on said movable scale.

8. A golf club measuring device comprising a lie scale, a loft scaleangularly related to said lie scale, a movable part bearing an indicatorwhich is movable along one said scale and secured to the other saidscale, clamping means for securing a golf club with its head in a fixedorientation and its shaft extending into the angle between said scales,said indicator means comprising means for moving said scale securedthereto and said part bearing said indicator to bring said scale securedthereto into contact with the shaft of a golf club secured in thedevice, the movement of said part bearing said indicator being adaptedto indicate on the fixed scale the displacement of the movable scale,the point of contact between the movable scale and said club being anindication of a reading on said movable scale, the movable scale beingpivotally mounted with respect to said movable part, a stop limitingpivotal movement of said scale against said stop, whereby to establishthe correct angular relation between said scales.

9. The device of claim 8 in which the loft scale is the movable scale.

10. The device of claim 8 in which the biasing means comprises arrangingthe pivot of the movable scale at an angle to the vertical so that it isgravity biased against the stop.

11. The device of claim 8 in which the clamping means and the scales areall substantially inclined from the horizontal so that said scalessubstantially overlie said clamping means.

12. The device of claim 8 in which the pivot of the movable scale isnormal to said scale, the clamping means and the scales all beingsubstantially inclined from the horizontal so that the inclination ofsaid pivot supplies the bias of said movable scale against said stop.

13. The device of claim 8 in which the lie scale is a straight scalemarked in degrees and including indicia for various golf clubsindicating the standard lie angle for each said club.

14. The device of claim 8 in which the loft scale is a portion of adegree circle marked in degrees and including indicia for various typesof golf clubs indicating the standard loft angle for each said club.

15. In a golf club clamping device comprising means defining a referenceplane adapted to receive the striking face of the head of a golf club incontact therewith, said plane having an end located to permit the hoselof a club having a face in contact with said plane to project past thereference plane, and means defining a pair of reference points in a linespaced slightly from one margin of said plane and adapted to contact thesole of the head of a golf club when said golf club head is in facecontact with said means defining said plane, a clamping member adaptedto secure the head of a golf club rigidly with its striking face againstsaid reference plane and the sole against said means defining said pairof reference points, the improvement comprising means defining a thirdreference point, said means being spaced from but adjacent to said endof said reference plane and positioned to engage the hosel of a golfclub in face contact with said reference plane, said clamping memberbeing adapted to secure the hosel against said means defining saidreference point, a lie scale, a loft scale angularly related to said liescale, said clamping means being aligned to hold a golf club with itsshaft extending into the angle between said scales, a movable partbearing an indicator which is movable along one said scale and securedto the other said scale, said indicator means comprising means formoving said scale secured thereto and said part bearing said indicatorto bring said scale secured thereto into contact with the shaft of agolf club secured in the device, the movement of said part bearing saidindicator being adapted to indicate on the fixed scale the displacementof the movable scale and said club being an indication of a reading onsaid movable scale, said scales being so related to said reference planeand said reference points that movement of said movable part is the onlymovement required to cause indications on both the lie and the loftscale of respective readings accurately measuring the club.

16. A golf club measuring and correcting device comprising incombination, means defining reference surfaces adapted to bear againstthe head and hosel of a golf club only when the striking face and thelower end of the hosel of said club have a defined position respectingsaid means, clamp means adapted to secure a golf club in the definedposition respecting said reference point means, said clamp means andsaid reference point means being adapted to leave the hosel of said golfclub substantially completely unobstructed, lie and loft measuring meansadapted to permit free movement of the shaft of a golf club in alldirections while in measuring position, and a correcting tool comprisinga generally cylindrical section adapted to receive said hosel and havingends spaced apart a distance less than the length of said hosel, andmeans for applying torque to said tubular member about an axis definedby the engagement of one said end of said tubular member with saidhosel, whereby to controllably correct the lie and loft of said clubwithout removing said club from said measuring device.

17. The device of claim 16 in which said cylinder is open at one side toadmit the hosel.

18. The device of claim 16 in which a handle for manual manipulationextends from said cylinder at an acute angle to its axis.

19. The device of claim 16 in which said clamping means and said scalesare so related that a single adjustment of said loft measuring means isadapted to cause correct indications to register on both of said scales.

20. A golf club measuring and correcting device comprising incombination, means defining reference surfaces adapted to bear againstthe head of a golf club only when the striking face and the lower end ofthe hosel of said club have a defined position respecting said means,clamp means adapted to secure a golf club in the defined positionrespecting said reference point means, said clamp means and saidreference point means being adapted to leave the hosel of said golf clubsubstantially completely unobstructed, lie and loft measuring meansadapted to permit free movement of the shaft of a golf club in alldirections while in measuring position, and a correcting tool comprisinga generally cylindrical section adapted to receive said hosel and havingends spaced apart a distance less than the length of said hosel, andmeans for applying torque to said tubular member about an axis definedby the engagement of one said end of said tubular member with saidhosel, whereby to contrallably correct the lie and loft of said clubwithout removing said club from said measuring device, said lie and loftmeasuring means further comprising lie and loft scales, a movable partbearing an indicator which is movable along one said scale and securedto the other said scale, said indicator comprising means for moving saidscale secured thereto into contact with the shaft of a golf club in thedefined position, the movable scale being pivotally mounted with respectto said movable part, a stop limiting pivotal movement of said scale ina direction to decrease the angle between said scales and means biasingsaid movable scale against said stop, whereby to establish the correctangular relation between said scales.

21. The device of claim 20 in which the biasing means comprisesarranging the pivot of the movable scale at an angle to the vertical sothat it is gravity biased against the stop.

22. The device of claim 20 in which the pivot of the movable scale isnormal to said scale, the clamping means and the scales all beingsubstantially inclined from the horizontal so that the inclination ofsaid pivot supplies the bias of said movable scale against said stop.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 737,527 8/1903 Teilborg.1,150,397 8/1915 Shoemaker. 2,747,535 5/ 1956 Curry. 2,908,114 10/1959Fouse. 2,973,581 3/1961 Rhodehamel.

SAMUEL S. MATTHEWS, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 72-293

